MECH 1305: Graphics and Design Fundamentals

Course Overview

The primary objective of this class it to give you an introduction to solid modeling, drafting, and computer aided engineering using the computer aided design package NX. Topics to be covered include: For many this will be the first engineering class that they take. Be prepared to find a different standard with regard to work required for the class; it will be more, but not as much as in most of your latter engineering classes. Also, you are expected to be responsible and proactive about your education. That means that you need to take it on your own to know when projects and homework are due, how it should be submitted, what is on the exams, etc. That being said this is a fun class. You get to make solid models and even design some simple systems like aircraft landing gear, vehicle transmissions, small satellites, etc. What could be better than that! A large percentage of mechanical engineers are highly involved in design and proficiency in these tools are essential. Many of you will spend a good deal of their work week working in one manner or another with a CAD program.

Course Information

Instructor: Huanmin Lu
Email: lhuanmin@utep.edu
Phone: 747-6904
Office: A-240
Office Hours: TBA

Lecturer/TA: Mario Ruvalcaba
Email: mruvalcaba@miners.utep.edu
Office: E104 x8044
Office Hours: TBA, or by email

TA: Mike Everett
Email: @miners.utep.edu
Office: TBA
Office Hours: TBA, or by email

Class Meeting Time:
Lecture M 9:30-10:20 EDUC 203
Lab WF 9:30-11:20 E225

Required Text: Basic and Intermediate NX4: Modeling, Drafting and Assemblies, by Stephen Samuel, Anuranjini Pragada, and Gautam Baksi, published by Design Visionaries, 2006, ISBN 0-9754-3775-5.
You must have this text with you at every lab session! Many of the labs will be directly out of this book.

NX Version used in this class: We will be using NX4 in this class. NX6 is also installed on the computers in the labs DO NOT USE NX6 files made with NX6 will not be read in NX4 and if you submit work that cannot be read in NX4 you will receive no credit!

Grade Determination

The final grade in this class will be based on three 60 minute quizzes given during the semester. These quizzes will typically consist of two parts 1) a short answer section to consisting of review questions from the tutorials and 2) a demonstration section where you will be asked to show that you have proficiency in modeling with NX.

The proficiency demonstrations will involve that you modify, manipulate or create a solid modeling in NX. The final part will be submitted through WebCT. There will be no final exam but you can use the final exam period to take an optional fourth quiz, from which the highest three grades will be used.

In addition, there will be several projects The projects will consist of a small design type project that you will have to complete in a group of two or three. We will randomly select several projects and review and discuss them in front of the class. Due to the size of the class not every project may be reviewed and graded, but a random projects will be graded. Also, for some projects there will be an interim review where several projects will also be critiqued to give some advice on what issues should be addressed. These interim reviews will not be graded but if little progress has been made points on your overall grade will be deduced.

The final grade will be determined as follows:

Final Grade = 0.65 * (Average of the three highest quiz scores) + 0.35 * (Project grade)

From which the final letter grade will be assigned as follows

A > 93%
84% < B <= 93%
77% < C <= 84%
70% < D <= 77%
F <= 70%

Class Policies

Please read the following carefully. You are responsible for following these policies. If you have any questions please ask. Ignorance of the law is not an acceptable defense in a court of law, nor is it in this class.

Quizzes:

Unless otherwise stated all quizzes will be closed book and notes. The quizzes will be given in the computer lab, as such the following policies will be enforced.
  1. If you are more than 5 minutes late for the exam you will not be allowed to take the exam
  2. Cell phones, iPods, PDAs etc are not allowed if you are using one it will be assumed that you are involved in some form of academic dishonesty and will be asked to leave the exam.
  3. Unless otherwise specified the only applications that can be running on the computers are a 1) web browser with the WebCT page only and 2) NX. If any other applications or web pages are seen on your screen again it will be assumed that you are involved in some form of academic dishonesty and will be asked to leave the exam.
  4. When you are done with the exam you will need to leave the lab.
  5. Any conversation with any other students in the class or outside of the class will be assumed to be involved in some form of academic dishonesty and will be asked to leave the exam.
  6. Do not use My Documents on the computers in the labs. It is my experience that the way UTEP shares these directories is highly unstable and you are very likely to loose your documents. You have been warned and this is not an acceptable excuse.
  7. Save frequently, NX does crash from time to time. If you are not saving then you stand to loose your work. Again you have been warned and this is not an acceptable excuse.
  8. There are no make-up exams for any reasons. Since the lowest grade is dropped this should not be an issue.
  9. Read the section below, you are responsible for the proper uploads of your projects and exams. No upload, no grade!

Uploading Files for Projects and Quizzes:

All of the graded materials for this class will involve you uploading your files to WebCT. We will do a demonstration of this in class, but after that you are 100% responsible for successfully uploading these files. Files that are uploaded after the cutoff window, or files that are not correctly uploaded and cannot be read correctly will not be accepted! When we start to do assemblies you need to learn how to zip up the directories with all of your parts correctly. If you do not do this correctly you will get a zero! NO EXCEPTIONS!

Attendance and Lectures:

Class attendance is mandatory. You will be dropped if you have more than three unexcused absences. Typically, the lecture will cover the material for the labs/exercises to be performed for that week. The lab sessions will be self paced tutorials that are either from the text or from NX CAST. The NX tutorials for each class are given here. There are approximately 3 hours of tutorials for each lab session. Each lab is two hours and so that leaves about one hour of tutorials for you to finish outside of class. This is in lieu of formal homework assignments. The TA and often one of the instructors will be available during the class time to provide individual help with the tutorials as needed. Many students will finish the tutorials in less time, some may need more. It is up to you the student to ensure that they keep up with the material.

The material in this class will require you to actively use NX. Most likely you will not be able to "cram" before the quizzes and do well. If you are keeping up with the tutorials you will find the quizzes and class rather easy and enjoyable.

The following computer labs have NX installed

WebCT:

This class will use WebCT to disseminate materials for the class as well as for uploading the projects, homeworks and the quizzes. We will do a dry-run of taking a quiz before the first quiz. After that it is expected that you understand how to do this.

Academic Honesty:

Cheating is unethical and not acceptable. Plagiarism is using information or original wording in a paper without giving credit to the source of that information or wording: it is also not acceptable. Do not submit work under your name that you did not do yourself. You may not submit work for this class that you did for another class. If you are found to be cheating or plagiarizing, you will be subject to disciplinary action, per UTEP catalog policy. Refer to the following page for further information.

Students with Special Needs:

We will make any reasonable accommodations for students with limitations due to disabilities, including learning disabilities. Please see one of the instructors personally before or after class in the first two weeks or make an appointment, to discuss any special needs you might have. If you have a documented disability and require specific accommodations, you will need to contact the Disabled Student Services Office in the East Union Bldg., Room 106 within the first two weeks of classes. The Disabled Student Services Office can also be reached in the following ways:

Web: http://www.utep.edu/dsso
Phone: (915) 747-5148 voice or TTY
Fax: (915) 747-8712
E-Mail: dss@utep.edu

Course Lectures and Lab Sessions

The list of the exercises to be covered in the lab sessions as well as the material covered in the lectures is given here. Please, refer to this before each lab session.

Projects

There will be several projects which are either detailed in the lectures or on WebCT.